Cigarette receptacle



June 17, 1947. v J, J, GELLER ET AL 2,422,478

CIGARETTE RECEPTACLE Filed March 17, 1945 MiM' Patented June 17, 1947 UNITED STATES rarest :OFFICEE CIGARETTE REQEPT-ACLE Joseph J. Geller and Gar] --E. Swanson,

:Chicagm IH.

Applic tion .Mamh 7, 4 Seri l Nib-583,225

3-Claims. (Cl. 31284) fewsimple parts, which shall holdthe cigarettes upright, and which shall cause the delivery of the cigarettes to be solely through :the action of gravity, without using mechanical ejecting means to act on the cylindrical surfaces ofthe cigarettes to push them and perhaps damage them.-

The various features of novelty whereby our invention is characterized will hereinafter b e pointed out with particularity-in the claims; but, for a full understanding ofthe invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in section, of a receptacle embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a view, partly in plan and partly in section, of the receptacle illustrated in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 2, showing only a smallfragment of the device.

Referring to the drawing, I is a base composed of any suitable material, generally circular in cross section and of considerable height. 2 is a cylindrical shell, preferably formed from transparent, plastic material and being thin-walled. The lower end of the shell fits around a shallow cylindrical part 3 at the top of the base and rests at its lower edge on an annular shoulder l, lying outwardly from and just below such part. A round lid or cover 5 rests on top of the shell, forming with the latter and the base a casing or housing. The lid is preferably provided with a shallow cylindrical part 6 that fits easily into the upper end of the shell to keep the lid in place, while permitting it to turn freely; a finger piece 1 on top of the lid being adapted to be grasped for turning or lifting the lid. Within the casing is a cup-shaped drum'that rests on the base and has on the under side a central cylindrical boss 9 that fits rotatably in a bearing cavity NJ in the base; the boss thus constituting a journal about the axis of which the drum can turn. In the periphery of the drum are grooves l i that extend throughout the entire length of the same, are uniformly spaced and of a depth and width preferably at least asgreat as the diameter of acigarette. In the arrangement shownthereare twenty-one of these grooves, namely, enough to contain the cigarettes most commonly found 'in a package of cigarettes, and leave one groove empty.

In the lower part of ,the shell-Z ista'vertical slot t2 :at -least as wide as one ofthe grooves in the drum. This not lies Jus-t' behind and abovean outwar'dextension l4 of-theibase. The

base has cut into the same, down through t-he top, a-deep cavity 15'Whichextends radially out ,into the nosebrprojeotionfi 4 ,iromapoint slightgly ;clos er'to*,the axis of rotation ,of thedrum than are the;bottoms of the grooves I i. The ;Qavityis at least as wide as theslot I'Z and itsbottom surface 16 slopes downward 'from' -the plane {of the top of the nose,;near thct ,p Qf'the-nosato "the-inner orrear end of the cavity. The cavity vided to hold the drum yieldingly in any angu-.

lar position in which one of the grooves registers with the slot l2. In the arrangement shown, such means consists of a ring of holes it in the under side of the bottom wall of the cup, together with a spring-pressed pin H9 or the like mounted in the top of the base.

For the purpose of turning the drum means are provided. to interlock the lid therewith when the lid is applied to the shell. In the particular interlock illustrated, the lid has on the under side a square part it that extends down into the drum, while the drum has at the top two inwardl directed flanges 2! that are oppositely disposed and have parallel edges for engagement with opposite sides of part 29 when the lid is on. When the lid is applied, care need only be taken to see that it is in the proper angular position to bring two sides of the square part thereon parallel with the aforesaid parallel edges of the drum flanges, in order that the lid shall drop into interlocking engagement with the drum.

When the receptacle is to be placed in use, the lid is removed and twenty cigarettes A may be placed upright in twenty of the grooves, leaving that groove that registers with the slot I2 empty; assuming, of course that the drum is in such position that the indexing pin is engaged in one of the holes in the bottom of the drum. The lid is then put back in place, in interlocked relation with the drum. It will be seen that the cylindrical part 6 of the lid cannot slip down into the groove drops straight down into the cavity E in the base and, upon touching the inclined bottom of this cavity, tends to slide rearwardly and topples forward until it lies flat on the cavity bottom; the cigarette shown in full lines on the left hand side of Fig. 1 being just ready to drop, while the final position thereof, after dropping, is indicated in broken lines.

While we have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of our invention, we do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements coming within the definitions constituting the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A cigarette receptacle comprising a casing having a base and a cylindrical shell rising therefrom, a drum slightly smaller in diameter than the shell arranged within the latter and having peripheral longitudinal grooves each adapted to contain a cigarette resting on the base, the shell containing a vertical slot wider than the diameter of a cigarette that opens through its lower edge and rises above the base a distance much less than the length of a cigarette, the base having in the top in registration with said slot a deep well to permit a cigarette to drop down only about far enough to clear the upper bounding edge of the slot before touching the bottom of the well, and means to turn the drum to bring the grooves and their cigarettes, one at a time, into registration with the slot and the well.

' 2. A device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the well is undercut at the back and the bottom of the well slopes downwardly and inwardly from the point thereon that is first engaged by a falling cigarette to cause the lower end of a cigarette dropping into the well to slide rearwardly while the upper end swings out through the slot.

1 3. A device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the base has a radially projecting nose below the slot, the top of the nose lies a substantial distance below the top of the base;'and the well is undercut at the back, opens out through the side of the base to form a downward extension of the slot above the nose, and has a bottom surface that slopes downwardly and inwardly from a point'in the top of and near the tip of the nose to the inner or rear side of the Well. JOSEPH J. GELLER.

CARL E. SWANSO'N.

REFERENCES CITED ,The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

, UNITED STATES PA'I'ENTS Number Name Date 545,546 Staub Sept. 3, 1895 1,800,035 Vierling Apr. '7, 1931 V FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 411,129 England 1934 

